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Saturday, September 4, 2010

But First...

My husband often asks, "Why don't you finish one thing
before you start something new?" My answer is, "I try, but there are
always so many things to do!"

Just this morning, I went to my laundry room, where we keep a
large freezer, to get meat for dinner. “But first, I’ll scoop the cat
box and put a load of clothes in the washer.” I thought. While scooping and
cleaning up litter from the floor, I heard the mail carrier stop at our mailbox
and went to see what he’d left.

Before going back in the house, I checked my flower garden and,
yep, it needed water. So I put the mail right inside the door and went to the
garage to get my watering can. The broom we keep there reminded me that I had
been wanting to do some cleanup on the patio.

I grabbed the broom and started around the house, stepping on
Iris leaves that had drooped over the walk. The rain had made them slippery,
and, fearing someone would fall, I went back to the garage to get my shears. I
cut the leaves back a bit, picked up the cuttings and carried them to the
garbage can, then found my broom leaning against the house, where I’d propped
it, and went to sweep the patio.

On my way to the garage to put the broom back, a neighbor spoke,
and I stopped to chat about the weather, the price of gasoline and other things
of interest.

I watered my plants and went back into the house, and remembered
that I hadn’t put the clothes in the washer. “I’ll go do that; but
first, I want to look at the mail.” I thought. Most of it was junk and
filed in the trash can, but I put a few things aside to look at later.

On my way to the laundry room, the phone rang. Answering to hear
my daughter sounding very upset gave me a start until she quickly assured me
that everything was fine. She was just having a bad day with her two children
and wanted to take a break! I brewed a cup of tea and we talked for thirty
minutes.

Forgetting about my laundry, I went to the kitchen to make some
decisions about dinner, but first, decided to look at the mail I
had put aside earlier. As I picked up the first letter, I heard “ding” on my
laptop. I had just received mail. I walked over to see who it was from and,
wow! I had lots of e-mail! Looking at the clock and noting that it was only
two-thirty, I decided I had a little time to answer mail before starting
dinner.

After looking at the e-mail and answering the most important
ones, I said, “I’ve got time to do a little dusting if I hurry.” Feather duster
in hand, I noticed at once that there were too many magazines on my coffee
table, and decided to weed them out; “but first, I’d better cut those
articles I want to keep,” I thought.

Sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of magazines
marked; Throw Away. Keep. Cut Articles… I felt a little
annoyed when my husband appeared and asked, “What’s for dinner?”

“Chops," I answered curtly. "I’ll start cooking
as soon as I finish this!” He left the room.

Suddenly feeling guilty, I put the magazines aside, vowing to
get back to them after dinner, and went into the kitchen to cook—“but first,
I’d better put those clothes in the washer.”

That finally done, I went back to the kitchen. Surprised and
exasperated, I yelled, “What happened to the pork chops I got out of the
freezer this morning?”